Crystals, Acid Rain

PART 1: Crystals

How did we make our crystals?
1. Add 20 mL of sulphuric acid to a 100 mL beaker. Heat the acid until it reaches 70 degrees celcius. Turn off your bunsen burner.
2. Once heated, use a spatula to add pea-sized portions of copper oxide to the beaker. Stir the mixture for 30 seconds.
3. Repeat step 2 until no more will dissolve. Allow the beaker to cool.
4. Fold the filter paper and place it in the funnel. Place the filter funner into the second beaker.
5. Make sure the beaker is cool enough to hold at the top. The contents should still be hot. You may need your teacher to complete this step.
6. Gently swirl the contents of the beaker to mix, and then pour into the filter paper in the funnel. Allow to filter through.
7. Rinse the beaker you used to heat the mixture previously, and place it back on top of your tripod filled with 50-60 mL of water.
8. Place the evaporating basin on top of the beaker and carefully pour some of the solution from the beaker into the evaporating basin.
9. Gently heat the beaker until the solution in the evaporating basin has reduced by half.
10. Leave the evaporating basin to cool. Once cool, move the evaporating basin to a warm place where it will not be disturb and observe over the next few days. Blue copper sulphate crystals should form.

Take a photo

What salt are the crystals? - copper sulphate salt

PART 2: Acid Rain

How is acid rain formed?
- When fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are burned, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide escape into the air. These molecules dissolve in the water in the clouds and make the rainwater more acidic than normal. When this happens, it is called acid rain.

How is affecting coral reefs?
- when the acid rain pour down, the water in the ocean is now mixed with the acidic water affecting living things there.

How can we prevent it?
- don't burn fossil fuels or things like that.